WA - Wait Awhile!

Life is ticking along in Margaret River (aka Marge) at WA pace (i.e. Wait Awhile!) and I have become quite a local here now. Everyday as I cycle to work on Nessie (Pumpkin - the chef at work who can't spell stuck Nessy on my bike one evening!) UTEs and cars drive past honking and waving (with the occasional cry of Hootsmon!) as I pass. Despite having attracted a bit too much attention from the desperados locals, it is Nessie who seems to draw most of the comments. She really is a beast! The old-style frame with big handlebars, shocks that aren't attached and backwards pedal brakes attracting many remarks. We have fallen out twice now, both times she has taken the hump and very kindly kicked her chain off whilst going downhill . . which means I have had to do two crash-landings, as without the chain there is no way of braking!

Unfortunately work has not been a relaxed affair with the resort changing management, and there being a huge turnover in staffing. The Steakhouse was abiding with the WA motto of Wait Awhile which annoyed many customers and I was relieved to only be working in the Thai Knights! As a result Pumpkin, the head chef, left and the Steakhouse is now closed. The shifts in the Thai and bar are going well though, and the occasional house-keeping shift keeps my hours at over 40 a week, one week clocking up 55 hours.

The AFL footie final was on a couple of weeks ago and footie fever hit Margaret River as everyone prepared for the West Coast Eagles to triumph (even the school lolly-pop man was getting in the spirit!) This meant a hectic day at work, although I managed to escape for a quick catch up and some fish and chips with a friend from Perth, Alistair, and his parents who were down visiting Margaret River. This is the downside of working in the service industry: the unsociable hours; and yet the upside of me taking this job is that I have now put in my teaching application to teach as a relief teacher in WA. I just hope I don't have to Wait Awhile until it is complete as it is not long now until the end of the academic year! I really do miss teaching and am excited by the prospect of teaching the Australian curriculum.

Managing to secure two nights off I had Ali and his friends Whitney and Lia to stay whilst they were on a course break. We had a heavy night of bbq-ing with my friends (see pic - Whitney, Chi, Ali), karaoke at the local stinky Tavern, (with Ali's Britney Spears song stealing the show! - see pic) followed by a party at Archie, my supervisor's, flat (see pic - l-r Ali, me, Chi, Giovanni, Whitney, Leon, Archie) . The following morning, hangovers kicking in, we decided that no visit to Marge is complete without going on a wine tour which allowed us to sample more of the local produce: wine, cheese and chocolate, as well as see a bit more of the region. We slumped over the first tasting counter, pounding heads and nauseous, but found that after a couple of vino tastings we were able to pick up the pace and uphold the reputation of our fellow countrymen of being good drinkers. This tour, Margaret River Tours, was different to my last one and took us to some of the larger wineries in the region, Vasse Felix, Watershed and then to Moss Brothers where our guide, Kym, used to work.

Taking more time off after my 55 hour-long week, I managed to catch up with my friend Alistair again when he came down from Perth for the weekend. We headed up to Busselton to scuba dive at the jetty there. This jetty is the longest Jetty in the Southern hemisphere, stretching almost 2 kilometres into the sparkling blue seas of the Indian Ocean. The end of the jetty was damaged in a storm and diving amongst the shoals of fish and coral-clad pillars we swam along the sea bed that is a mass of construction - fallen pillars, chains, and massive rusting nails. It was a beautiful dive and we saw stunning coral and anenomes, shaw's cow fish, box fish, globe fish and wrasse. We then headed South West to a surfer's paradise called Yallingup where we pitched the tent and sat drinking unlabelled red wine (made by my housemate Nick) on the beach as the sun set, casting a rainbow of colours in the sea, the surfers bobbing black blobs in the gentle surf that rolled onto the shore. The following day we lounged in the sun on the beaches at Ellensbrook and Rivermouth, watching the surfers cruise along the crests of the waves. Now I really felt as though I was in Australia!
The beaches on the West Coast ware stunning with endless white sands and clear aqua waters. The area is definately a Surfer's paradiuse and so far I have not visited a beach without seeing someone doing watersports. The countryside too is very different with the dry, flat bush giving way to winery after winery that host fields of immaculately pruned vines. My friend Louise came to visit from Perth during her school holidays and we hired a car to nip around the countryside in. We did the obligatory chocolate and cheese factory visits as well as stopping at a lavender farm (which mum would love) with beds of different lavender from which they make their various purple produce that is then wrapped in purple! We also visited Graylyn, a winery famed for its' ports, and Cullen winery where we did some tastings, before heading to the beaches at Gracetown and Prevelly followed by a meal at the Thai Knights where I work with my friends Chi and Lucy.

Until now Australia has felt very much like home with the weather being chilly and windy, and with everyone being so friendly. I have met so many Scottish people and other expats who tell me that they have chosen the Australian lifestyle over living in the UK as it is so much more relaxed and the climate is obviously better. Employers (except at the Margaret River Resort!) seem to look after their employees with many offices having beer fridges that are stocked for Friday arvos. However, seeing the beaches and the surf-centred lifestyle of those around me, watching the sun moving across the sky the opposite way to that of home, looking at the different constilations of stars, learning to play the didgeridoo (yeah - I know I look like I am chewing on a huge stick!) as well as seeing the passing kangaroos reminds me that I am infact in Austrlia!